11 Teaching the Pet a Few New Tricks

Nastasia followed Li Yu Rong after he spoke a single word while his hand made a "come with me" gesture. The word he spoke "gen," she decided, probably had a meaning close to "follow me." She repeated the word over in her mind, trying to commit it to memory.

After their introduction, she had pointed to a few things around them to distract herself from the feelings his touch brought upon her. Nastasia would say the name of an object and then indicate for him to do the same. After doing this for a few moments he became quiet and thoughtful and just as she was figuring out how to inquire after his silence Li Yu Rong brought her to follow him.

Her eyes affixed to his dark-blue robe covered back, mind wandering to how he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and how his fingers grazed her cheek. Gasping, she quickly staunched the thought, the tips of her ears and cheeks dusting red. She pulled her gaze away from him.

If she looked at him she couldn't help but think of that moment and go weak in the knees.

Instead, she paid her attention to the way made to where they were going. They walked across the garden, passed the pond she had initially met Li Yu Rong, and to a building that was located in a part of the estate that was the most overgrown she had yet to see. The building had a roof of black tiles, red pillars, and white walls.

He led her into a room that contained multiple rows of bookshelves, and to the right of those shelves overflowing with books, was a very low sat table. In front and behind the table were a few cushions. The table was littered with paperwork and books. At the left-hand edge were a few brushes, a porcelain container, and an oddly shaped slab of clay that dipped inward. Inside that oddly shaped clay was a dark stick of some sort.

Li Yu Rong gestured toward one of the cushions, saying a single "zuo." Nastasia took the word to mean sit. She, as with the last word he spoke, repeated the word several times in order to commit it to memory.

After sitting down, he took a seat beside her, his posture straight and serious as he reached for the oddly shaped clay thing. Taking the porcelain container, he dripped some water into it before taking the stick to rub it against the odd clay thing. From the water, up until halfway, and then back toward the water. This repeated itself several times until the water was a thick inky black. He set the stick down.

Pointing toward the oddly shaped clay, he said. "Yàn." Thus she took it to mean that the oddly shaped thing was called a yan. Another thing committed to memory.

His gaze was observing her carefully. He pointed toward the inky water. "Mò ."

He picked up a brush and said clearly, slowly. "Mòbi."

Pulling forth a sheet of paper, he said in the same measured tone. "Xuanzhi."

Dipping the brush into the ink he drew a single character. "Li." Drew another, "Yu." Then drew another, "Rong." She watched him carefully, taking in each stroke, hoping to learn. Li Yu Rong, seeing her rapt attention upon the paper handed over the brush, his eyes telling her to give it a try.

Nastasia looked at his name, tried to recall the order in which he wrote the lines, and nervously began to write. When she finished, the characters looked like the nonsensical doodles of a toddler.

Her shoulders dropped in disappointment.

The corner of Li Yu Rong's mouth upturned gently as he patted her head, offering praise for her attempt. This, when she had done so terribly, made her feel embarrassed. She dropped her gaze to the paper. Nastasia dipped the brush again to make another attempt, yet her hand switched into writing the familiar letters of her own name.

"A-S-Y-A." She sounded out each letter as he had done. She handed over the brush for him to copy it...

… only to be stunned at the perfectly even and beautifully written letters staring back at her. Well, she comforted herself, asking him to do this was like getting a master artist to draw stick figures while hers was like asking a person that could only draw stick figures to make a masterpiece.

After finishing her name his gaze was on her expectantly. At first, she couldn't understand what he was wanting but soon realized that it was praise he was fishing for. Nastasia couldn't help but find his eyes, that glowed with a childish anticipation, rather... cute.

Thinking back to how he always pats her head, she leaned forward to do the same. However, because he was a head taller than her, she needed to rise to her knees to reach comfortably. Placing a hand on his shoulder to balance, her hand patted the top of his head.

Nastasia wasn't quite sure what happened, so she remained in a daze while trying to understand it.

Somehow, as she was patting his head, her body pitched forward and landed into his embrace. Li Yu Rong hadn't made any moves except for steadying her shoulders when she fell against him. For this reason, his perpetrating any foul play never crossed her mind.

Her brow scrunched and when she made a move to return to her spot with a muttered apology, she was spun around and sat in his lap. An arm snaked around her waist to keep her there.

Her mind malfunctioned and her face changed three shades of red.

Even though she was already this old her intimate experiences with the opposite sex could be counted on a fist. She was home-schooled because her mother feared outside influences (well, the area they lived in wasn't exactly good, so she didn't blame her) and her grandfather supported this move wholeheartedly. Her mind only held books and her schemes of the moment so, even though she went to a normal college, she rarely gave anyone the time of day; let alone men. Her time had been reserved for her family and her projects.

This mindset had followed her all the way to her current age.

Where would she have had the time for romance? Not that there was ever a man who attempted it, she thought dispiritedly. While this thought crossed her mind she had, unknowingly, discounted the line of men who attempted to attract her notice and failed. However, what they failed to realize was that in pursuit of this easily-distracted-yet-solely-focused-on-one-thing-at-a-time woman, they needed to give her more than subtle hints to get the point across.

"Zuan," he murmured a low tone at her ear. "Zhi." He spoke again after a moment.

His warm breath tickled her ear as he spoke, and coupled with the tone, had her spine stiffening.

What was he saying? What did he think he was doing? What should she do? Her mind jumped around these thoughts, but her body remained unmoving, her breath coming out in a crawl as her heart nearly pounded its way out of her chest.

The brush was placed before her and she stared at it for what felt an eternity before mechanically grasping it in hand.

Okay, let's forget this is happening. Her brain couldn't deal with it and decided to push it aside. She wrote the words he wanted and then handed the brush back. This torture continued on until nightfall. Even the meal that had been brought in for her by the dark-haired young man with orange streaks, the reprieve she thought she had won, had been eaten while in his lap.

At nightfall, a servant had appeared and Li Yu Rong finally retracted his arm, letting her go. He indicated for her to follow the servant and she left without looking back, her face beet red.

She was lead to a room nearby to the one she had woken in after having her injuries treated. The servant wordlessly gave her a tour of the room, showing the bed, the wardrobe filled with clothes, and other places that were meant for storage.

Once the servant left she collapsed upon the mattress and pillows in a daze. Even though it had been some time since she had entered this bedroom, she could still feel his warmth at her back and the ghosting pressure of his arm around her waist. The feeling had her heart squeezing strangely.

Nastasia tried to brush it aside and fall asleep, but her thoughts constantly flowed to him teaching her words and writing in that room. She could barely recall the things she had learned although she tried to think about them more than his warmth.

It wasn't until her mind was too exhausted to continue that Nastasia finally found sleep.